Dark Hearts Fall
by ChaseTheDarkness23
Summary: Things happen that we cannot control. Fear breaks through us and we don't know how to talk about it. Traumatic things happen to kids, and they live with it; developing trust issues, relationship issues, depression, and some even grow suicidal if people try to come too close. RikuxSora
1. Fury of the Storm

If someone ever went up to you and asked, "what is the true meaning of life?" nobody could really answer that question. Life is something that needs to be discovered by each individual person; debate whether or not you're going on the right path or not. Choosing between different people to date, what sexuality is yours, and the major you get into when you go to college. Everything about life is made up of various choices depending on your person.

There are criminals out there.

There are amazing people too.

But how you decide your path is up to you…

* * *

His thoughts began racing yet again, the rain rapidly hitting against the window as each thought started to enter his mind, but each _thump _made Riku lose concentration and he couldn't handle it. He wasn't really sure why, but for some reason, things were just that way.

His mind for now was just trapped in this pattern. Baseball wasn't for another four months, since he was already getting close to the midpoint of the first semester. It couldn't come any sooner, because until then he was stuck in his room, eavesdropping on the rain while he sat alone, finishing whatever Chemistry homework he had to complete. That crazy teacher, always seemed like he knew everything. Vexen was nothing to fool around on. If you got him for a teacher, you might as well praise him, kneeling to his feet and planting kisses on them. To him, he was the god of Chemistry; he had memorized the periodic table, from Hydrogen all the way over to Ununoctium. He knew everything about ionic, covalent, and metallic bonds.

Yep, he was the Chemistry genius all right.

It'd only be better if he actually CREATED all of the Chemistry shit that most every student didn't seem to care for in the slightest.

Riku sighed, running his fingers through his hair once; tossing the blue pen into the sheets, slightly messy from where he was sitting, but overall looked decently made. His room didn't exactly qualify for "normal sixteen year old" boy's room. It was really clean. Spotless clean actually. The sheets were a soft navy blue, freshly washed maybe two days ago. Above the sheets was a black comfiture, folded neatly underneath the navy blue pillows. His walls were dark, shadowed with a hint of a blue hue against the white while the end of twilight began to breach. Lights off, but Riku was debating whether or not to actually turn them on, however it wasn't going to help him with his Chemistry homework. It was difficult with or without the lights on.

Riku glanced over, checking at the table beside the bed. _8:05. Goddamnit._

He stood up, tossing the Chemistry book onto the bed and he walked downstairs. Everything was dark as he walked down, and it was hard for his eyes to adjust, not understanding why since he was sitting in nearing darkness just a few seconds ago. He reached the kitchen, searching through the fridge for something, anything to keep his mind awake so that he could actually concentrate on his work. Coca Cola and a pack of string cheese seemed like the best way to go.

A clap of thunder erupted into the house causing various flashes of lightning to light up Riku's pale face. It transformed his aqua-marine eyes to an almost white color. He immediately glanced outside, noticing the rain picking up and thudding hard against the window. The cars weren't in his driveway, so he was home alone.

He led himself up the stairs again, flipping the hallway light on so that he wouldn't trip on his own feet. A clash of thunder erupted again with the lightning flashes, causing Riku to flinch at the sound. To add to the misery, a light bulb busted and he dropped his drink. It exploded all over the white carpet.

"Shit… Dad's going to kill me," he whispered out, even though no one was there. He still felt really strange in the eerie atmosphere, and he couldn't decide if he should go back upstairs or retreat and stay down.

His mind, or rather his legs of their own accord, retreated downstairs. The first thing he thought to grab in that instant was the battery-powered radio just to see how bad it actually was going to get tonight.

That was when he realized that it was outside and in the garage; much farther than he wanted to venture.

"Damn…" he hissed.

With the coke on the floor, and no lights expect for a few seconds of lightning, he didn't want to risk even a mere attempt to reach his room. His coat was up there, so he'd had to suffer without it. Hopefully, he wouldn't have to be out for too long. The only downside was that the garage was down a slight hill. That worried Riku. He fretted over whether or not it'd slightly flooded in there.

He reached his hands out in front of him as his guide, hoping a chair wasn't - for whatever reason - on the ground, placed just so that he'd trip and fall. Flashes of lightning illuminated the way every so often. His mind raced, and he hoped to God that no creepy woman was hanging by her neck with a thick piece of rope, blood all over her and the area below her dangling form.

He shivered slightly. The crazy things the brain could do to a person to drive them insane.

He felt wood, but was careful and didn't let his hands explore too soon. He waited a few seconds for a flash of lightning to assure him that it was his door and that it was safe to roam the wood without getting a splinter.

He dropped his hand down the wood frame, caressing until he felt round metal. It was the doorknob. He turned it slightly, hearing the wind and rain grow louder than before. The raindrops started to fiercely strike his face, and another clash of lightning erupted and startled Riku so much that he grew almost too fearful to try and get the radio. It probably wasn't a good idea, but he had no clue if there was a flash flood warning or if he was going to need to go to the basement.

Steeling himself, he left the house and shut the door behind him. Riku took a quick breath, looking out and feeling the cold rain against his sharp features as he stood on the porch. The anger of the storm turned violent again, and the chill of the air brushed along Riku's skin. Goosebumps formed while he shivered slightly. '_It's now or never,'_ he thought, and his footsteps began quickly. His body moved fast so that he could just get that damn radio and retreat back into warmth and safety.

The roar of the storm eventually forced Riku into a light run. He still was careful about how he clambered down the slight hill. Finally, reaching the garage after a few seconds of being in the storm, he swiftly kicked it open, ignoring the knob since it was broken, and rushed inside.

There was only a little bit of water on the ground, and the highest it came up was only to Riku's soles. Other than that, nothing was going to get damaged tonight if the rain stayed just like as it was or got better. His eyes wandered, but everything was so dark he couldn't see a damn thing. He had to rely on the raging storm, so Riku did the dangerous thing and opened the door wide open.

His arms were again out, but he was mainly hunched over, figuring that he was going to find it on top of a small box and hopefully not on the floor. The lightning would flash occasionally, giving him some light to where he could proceed with his footsteps and continue the dangers of trying not to fall or get lost in the garage.

The flashes of lightning became longer and Riku was able to make better progress as he continued onward. His eyes had to shift fast if he wanted to see where he was going, and eventually the flashes of lightning became a pattern. He almost thought he saw exactly what he was looking for so with each flash, he walked on towards it. The shape of the object was correct, but he still couldn't tell since his eyes couldn't adjust as rapidly as he needed them to, and he couldn't be sure if it was the radio or just another box.

The flash of lightning came about again, lighting up the object, and Riku was correct. It was the radio. He smiled, picking it up, and started the dangerous journey to return to the house.

He again took cautious steps as he went through the same path, trying to reach the door safely. The wind speed started to pick up, and it was so gusty that the door was yanked shut in a matter of seconds. It scared Riku. He wasn't sure if he could open the door from inside the garage. His heartbeat began to pump hard against his chest, vibrating into his eardrums. With the roaring winds and clash of thunder, it intensified the vibrations in his ears and the pounding of his heart.

His footsteps felt quicker though he was slower due to the caution he was taking. The water level rose a little, and it began to soak into his black converse and wet his socks a little. He hurried himself up, feeling his hand press against the door.

At this point, he just searched, knowing he might end up with a splinter or two. He moved his hands around, hoping it didn't slam all the way. He felt the metal of the doorknob and pulled. Nothing. Riku's hand gripped around the knob fully, his whole arm shaking from both the coldness of the night and from fear. Terror began to course through his veins, and his face began to lose colour in it. He shook the door, pulling at the knob roughly, hoping that a miracle would happen and for some reason the door would be fixed so he could get out.

He began raising his voice, screaming for help, begging, and just HOPING someone could hear his cries as he strained for someone to come to his rescue. His fist pounded on the door, banging hard.

Riku didn't realize it until he stopped. He had broken part of the door and a large piece of wood had pierced his fist as he beat it repeatedly against it. He stopped because the door was still stuck, he was bleeding, and he was truly screaming. He screamed bloody murder from the sheer pain racing up and down his arm. His fingers began twitching with a quickening speed, his arm going out into a spasm attack. The metallic tang of blood permeated his senses.

'_T-This cannot force me to give up. I… I need to get out of here,' _he thought desperately.

Riku's words echoed about in his head. He looked up when lightning began to flash brightly in his face. Luckily, in that brief moment, he saw an opening. He whimpered softly at the thought, knowing full well what he had to do, but he needed to get out so he could find the phone and try to call an ambulance.

He took a long breath and counted out loud "One… two… three…" On three, he yanked his hand, somewhat breaking the wood free. A sudden, awful pain exploded in his hand, and he screamed again. Tears were streaking down his cheeks, staining them. Some of his tears fell onto his lips and a salty taste invaded his mouth. The wood was still attached to the door so Riku was still stuck to the door.

He attempted to calm himself after the excruciating pain outburst. Looking down at his trapped hand, he waited for lightning.

It came, and the wood went through his whole hand, most likely breaking the bone inside.

Riku started flinching when he saw the blood, gasping and his pain increased when he saw the wound. Soft sobs escaped his vocals, and he looked up again at the wound. _I can't stay stuck… T-this… is nothing._

He counted again, feeling scared as he went down the numbers, doing the same as before expect preparing to pull as hard as he could. He broke free, but the wood pulled out a little bit, scraping against bones and a little against the muscles inside and his vocals cracked from the bloody screams. He took a few moments, nothing but the sounds of winds laughing at his torment as he kneeled, screaming at the ground. He dared not grab the wound, fearing that he'd just move the wood and hit a nerve inside.

A crash of lightning broke him from the screams, and it slowly died down as he looked up, seeing a large hole in the door he had created. He just had to kick it hard enough to make the hole big enough for his body to fit through, which wasn't difficult to do since he was slim and only 14 years old.

He brought his foot up and slammed it hard into the door; over and over again he continued to do it. The wood slowly broke, and it took about 10 or so kicks to make a hole that he could squirm through, careful not to hit his hand or get stabbed by the points along the hole. _Leg first, okay… now twist and get your back out. Come on, Riku. Yes, that's right. Get the other leg out now. Okay, you're good, just don't look at your hand… get out now. Yes! _

He reached his good hand through the hole, grabbing onto the strap of the radio and pulled it out. It was almost out of reach, but he managed. He wasn't going to risk getting trapped again.

Riku broke out into a run, careful not to move his injury too much, though about halfway up the hill, his foot landed into a mud puddle, causing him to trip and fall, pressing right onto his hand.

The winds picked up just then, muffling his screams, cries, and the trashing of his body as it erupted into constant spasms from the pain. Mud got all over his pants leg, and with the twitching from his leg, the mud splashed up and marred his silky silver hair.

He looked behind him, and saw that he hand dropped the radio, and it was lying on the grass, until…

_Crash!_

A strike of lightning came down; hitting the radio right there, right where it laid and it was broken into pieces. The storm was rolling close, and Riku realized that if he didn't get up now, it was possibly that he was going to get struck by lightning tonight and he would either live from the pain and die later or die right on the spot.

He took his wounded hand from the ground, having to force it up because the wood had pierced into the dirt. He bit his lip, trying to prevent from straining his voice so badly. His good hand pushed him up, and he was careful now as he walked up, but still with speed. He limped a little, but continued on with speed. _I will not die…_

He finally reached the house, seeing that he had left the door open. He pushed it open, and slipped inside, slamming the door shut and locking the door. He took a small breath, and his aquamarine eyes opened, seeing the lights trying to flicker themselves on. With the small light he had, he looked down at the weak leg, seeing that the force of the lightning bolt caused a piece of the radio to stab into his leg. He winced as he tried to get himself completely inside, guiding himself along the wall with his hand, drips of blood staining the pure white carpet.

He got halfway to the phone, and even though he heard the terrifying sound, he continued.

The tornado sirens began blaring.

His heart started to pound, and the sounds of the wind made his body go limp, and he fell over, screaming as his body weight hit his injured hand. He screamed into the ground, shouting cuss words, feeling the eroding pain coursing through him, but he still fought against the pain… and he breeched onward to try and get to the phone.

He forced himself to army crawl across the floor (_well, baseball conditioning actually pays off_). The pain started to decrease when Riku thought about something different, like his parents or that damn Chemistry homework he was going to have to finish no matter what.

Surely enough, his thoughts caused him to reach the computer desk, and he stood, looking around for the phone until he smacked it off the receiver. He felt around more, dipping his hand down, until he felt his finger press a button, the phone lighting up and he could see again. He grabbed it, pressed the talk button and dialed 911.

"Please please please…." He begged.

"911, what is your emergency?" _Thank FUCKING God!_

"Please help me!" he screamed.

"Sir, please calm down, what is your name?" the woman answered.

"My name is Riku Hikaru. I-I live at 186 West End Avenue in the city. Please you have to help me!" He screamed, breaking out into soft sobs.

"Are you a minor?" she asked.

"I'm 14… yes… please… c-can you send me help…?" Riku begged.

"What's happening?" she didn't sound very reassuring.

"I-It's the storm. I had to go get our radio and… o-on the way, I got very badly injured. I got wood stuck in my hand and the lightning broke my radio when I dropped it down the hill, and a shard of it is in my leg. Please… please! Send me someone!"

"Don't worry; we'll be there as soon as possible. Just stay calm sweetheart."

"D-Don't leave me ma 'me… please…" Riku begged.

"Are you alone…?" she asked.

"My mom and dad went out for their anniversary, and my brother is away at college. I don't have any other family…" he whispered into the phone.

"Oh my… I'm so sorry, Riku." She whispered.

"Can you tell me your name, Miss…?" Riku asked, his voice growing distant.

"My name is Tifa Lockheart." She said. "Riku? Are you falling asleep?" she sounded worried now.

"My hand is bleeding a lot… Tifa, I'm scared… w-what if I fall asleep and don't wake up, cause I'm sleepy… I've been pushing myself a lot tonight, and it's getting difficult... I-I can't…"

"Riku, wait, you can't fall asleep, honey. The paramedics just left. They're on their way baby." She said into the phone.

"I can't… I can't wait Tifa… I need to rest…" Riku said.

"Riku, you can't sleep. C'mon, talk to me, please? What's your favourite thing to do?" Tifa asked.

"I play baseball, but if I don't keep my grades up, then I can't play."

"How are your grades?" she asked.

"Straight A's, school's never been a problem for me… except for my current teacher." Riku whispered. "I'm getting sleepy Tifa…" he collapsed onto the ground, this time missing his hand, but he could suddenly hear the sound of a harsh lightning bolt, followed by a siren.

"Riku? Is that an ambulance?" Tifa asked.

"I think… yes."

"Okay, I'm going to have to hang up, but if you've collapsed, my guys are coming in. You'll be safe, Riku."

"Wait, Tifa!"

_Click._

* * *

**A/N: Woot! I thought this was never going to get done! Man, I am so proud of this right now c: **

**I really need to thank my friend, werewolf29 from deviantart. He helped me a lot with some things that's going to happen in this. But, you'll have to wait and see what those are ;) Also, he came up with the title :D I'm very proud of this and I couldn't have asked for anything more 3**

**So, please enjoy Dark Hearts Fall! And there should be another chapter coming out next weekend! Bye bye :)  
**


	2. Fade to Black

**Hey guys! So I know I haven't updated in a while, but I can explain! You see, the chapter I WAS working on was on my dad's laptop. It was about 1/3 finished, but then his laptop started effin' up and freezing completely. You would need to shut the computer off and restart it to get it working again. So he took his computer in to fix it and came home with a new computer. Needless to say, I lost the document and I had to rewrite this chapter**

**But I'm going to do it because I love all of you guys(: **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. If I did… hehehehehehe ;D**

_4 Months Later, Riku's P.O.V (for the rest of the story)_

Today was the day I was finally going home to my new parents. That night was horrible. The cops came in and had to bust my door down, cause I had lost too much blood to get up. I could barely talk, let alone get up to answer the door.

I was dragged outside on a stretcher and placed into an ambulance. Bright walls surrounded me and I tried to open my eyes again fully. When I did, all I could see was a blob of black hair on top of one of the doctors… or police officer? I couldn't be sure. They all wore black so it was really hard to distinguish.

"Kid? Hey, kid, are you alright?" he said to me, waving a hand in my face, holding one finger up. I knew this procedure because of Biology class, so I moved my eyes with the finger. I noticed a blob of pink curve up.

"C-Can't move my hand…" I stated. I began to feel really childish. I remember what I said to that woman Tifa on the phone. I sounded like a young boy, maybe five years old. In reality, I'm 14 years old. I seem and look older, but I'm a headstrong kid with a child's mind. It's funny… really. I guess it is because I'm so spoiled- erm… _was_ spoiled by my parents.

"Don't worry, we're going to fix it right up." He said. I smiled a little, closing my eyes for good the rest of the night.

It was strange too, because I had a dream. I didn't know about what happened to my parents, so I had assumed they would be there in my hospital room, waiting for me to wake up.

However, I dreamt of a stormy night. I was standing in the middle of the street with black clothes that were torn and covered with blood. I was coughing up blood, and my silver hair was stained red on the tips. I reeked with the scent of blood. When I looked up from the street, I saw headlights. The car suddenly swerved to avoid crashing into me. The slickness of the road though attacked at the cars wheels and caused them to skid right off of the highway and into the river.

Instantly when I heard the water splashing, I woke up, scared and nearly screaming. I didn't want it to be true at all, something like that couldn't happen… it just couldn't and it wouldn't because God wouldn't let it happen.

"Ah, I see we're awake. Can you see?" the black haired man asked.

"See?" I asked.

"Heh, I figured you wouldn't really remember. You were… half asleep." He smiled at me.

"I was?" I asked softly.

"Yeah, took a while to get your blood pressure back to normal." He said, walking over towards me. I flinched a little until I saw where he was going, which was to all of the machines connected to my body. I let out a breath that I apparently had been holding in for a while.

"Nervous?" he chuckled.

"Well… I guess I just haven't… been in this kind of situation." I stated calmly.

"Hmph, you sound a lot like my friend. His name is Cloud Strife. Ya know him?"

"Not at all." I replied.

"Shame. Cloud's a magnificent person. I actually met him in the army when I was training infantrymen. I was actually a first class SOLDIER. Heh, pretty crazy for me. I mean, I just signed up for the military and BAM! Automatically I've rewarded because they were scarce on members. Oh, look at me, explaining my life story to you." At that moment, Dr. Zack Fair became my friend too. He checked on me and gave me treatment for my hand. Often, he would tell me stories about his time in the army and kind of told me what Cloud was like.

After about two months of treatment, Dr. Fair said that I needed to go through a few more physical therapies and a couple more surgeries to make sure that all of the bones were fully functional again before I started pushing myself with writing, playing sports, and if I ever went back to the violin.

The next two months, I had to stay in the hospital. Dr. Fair came into my room a few days after I began the first run of treatments and told me about my parents. They died in a car crash on that stormy night. I was devastated, depressed, and it was bad enough to where I refused to be treated with my hand. It hurt a lot to not have any medicine to reduce the pain, but it wasn't a big deal.

When I was finally mature enough to let the doctors help me again, Dr. Fair started talking to me again like we were best friends. He even told me he had put my name into a foster care home, which I was grateful for him doing so.

"I'm looking out for you. That's what friends do." He smiled.

I wish though he could adopt me instead.

Those four months though went by quickly. Dr. Fair came into my room last week and told me that I would be discharged on Monday, being picked up by my new foster parents. I was excited, but also really nervous. I still miss my own parents, so maybe they won't make me call them Mom and Dad. I can't give that title to anyone except for my own parents.

"Good morning, Riku!" Dr. Fair walked in.

"Good morning, Dr. Fair." I smiled at him, holding out my hand for him to shake. He took it, and I gave him a nice squeeze.

"It's getting stronger every day, Riku. Oh, and I said you can call me Zack. I never let my friends use my work title."

"_Dr. Fair, please report to ICU immediately. Dr. Fair, please report to ICU immediately._" The intercom shouted. I sighed, hating that damn thing.

"Don't worry, you're still my bud. But I won't be seeing you for a while. However, I do know where you live now, and your parents will be here in a few minutes. They are outside signing paperwork right now." Zack smiled at me, turning away to report to his destination. When he left, an eerie feeling wrapped around my shoulders, pressing me hard to the bed. I took a breath, assuring myself they were good people.

"Thank you for that and right in here."

"Thank you."

Voices… I heard voices outside my room. I perked up, looking at the door and watched as it opened. When it did, my smile wasn't there. My silver hair caressed over my eyes like it normally did. Hopefully they weren't going to drag me to a salon or something. I liked it long.

"This is Riku." The nurse smiled.

"Riku? Hello! You're so much more handsome in person." The woman said.

"Have you seen me?" I asked.

"Pictures from the hospital. Oh, you looked so sick and helpless, but I knew that taking you in would be the right thing." She said.

"Would you please introduce yourselves to Riku?" the nurse smiled.

"I'm your foster mom, Aerith Strife and this is Cloud." She smiled.

"Cloud? So, then you're Zack's friend." The blond nodded, smiling a little at me.

"Yeah, he told me all about you. I told my wife about you, and she insisted on adopting you. Welcome to the Strife family, rookie."

"Oh, he's so glad to be in our family, Cloud! Can we take him home now?"

"Well, Dr. Fair has to return with all of the prescriptions for Riku before he can leave. Other than that, you're free to go." The nurse smiled, walking out.

"Thank you, Nurse Tifa." Cloud said.

"Anytime Cloud!" she smiled softly, closing the door. After Tifa had left though, the room grew extremely dense. I felt almost… smothered by their presence. I guess it's because the only person that's ever been in my room were my friends around the hospital, especially Zack.

"So Riku, are you nervous?" Aerith asked.

"I guess, yeah." I stated.

"You know, you look a lot older than I had pictured." Cloud said.

"I do? Oh, well I've always been mistaken for a junior in high school. I guess I am thankful I can go straight into my sophomore year!" I smiled. Aerith and Cloud both smiled. I looked into their faces and realized I was going to be pretty happy here.

Zack took a half hour to get back to bring my prescriptions. Aerith almost started a fuss about the wait, but Cloud was calm and spoke to Zack.

"Oh, before you go Riku. I had wanted to save this for your birthday, but seeing as you won't be here, I'll give it to you now." Zack said, pulling out a box from the closet. I looked at him curiously when he placed the box on my lap. I grabbed the paper with my left hand, careful not to use my right one at the moment, and tore it open. When I saw a white box, I took off the tape and opened the lid. When I saw what was inside, I couldn't believe it. In front of me was various rock CD's, some XBox video games, PS3 games, and off to the side was a Gameboy with a few Zelda and Pokémon games.

"Holy shit Zack… this is amazing! Thank you!" I said, moving the box off my lap and hugging Zack tightly. He hugged me back as well, and I felt a small smile on the crook of my neck.

"I'm going to miss you, man." Zack said when he pulled away.

"I'm going to miss you too…" I said, a little tear falling from my eye.

"Don't worry, we'll see each other again, kiddo." Zack said, smiling and lifting my chin.

"Yeah. I'll be waiting!" I said, standing up and grabbing the clothes the hospital had donated to me. Simple clothes: blue jeans, a white t-shirt with a black jacket, boxers, and black converse and a pair of socks. I went into the bathroom to change quickly, and when I came out, Zack handed me a sling. Just in case.

"Thank you Zack, for everything." I said, exiting the door, and then the hospital.

* * *

My foster parents were decent people. I never would be able to call them mom and dad, but they were okay with that. I actually now have a foster brother and sister. My brother's name is Tidus and my sister's name is Kairi. They're both really nice.

Tidus is a big fan of the ocean. His room is blue and he has a lot of fish. When I saw a lot, I mean A LOT. He's got 10 different tanks with various types of fish! Other than that, I really don't know a whole lot else about him.

Kairi though talks to me every day. She's 12 years old but looks to be about eight or nine. She carries around a small bear wherever she goes and never loses sight of it. Her eyes are bright blue, like the colour of the ocean. Her hair is a very short length and is red. It doesn't actually look all that natural, but she was probably allowed to dye it. I don't see why though.

Instantly, Kairi kissed my cast and said, "Don't worry, I'm going to pray that it'll get better!" then I realized she said pray and knew I came home to a religious family. I was fucked at that point.

"Riku, can you come downstairs?" Aerith called. I looked up from a book Zack had given me, slightly irritated but I set the book down and left my room. I walked downstairs and into the kitchen to see her and Cloud there.

"Riku, I know you may not feel up to par with this, but it's time for you to get back into school. I talked with your father-"

"He's not my father."

"I talked with Cloud and we agreed to give you a week before you started, since school did begin last month." Aerith said.

"Thanks. I won't let you down." I said, turning to walk away.

"Oh, and Riku? I do except you to respect and treat us like parents." She said.

"Aerith, don't." Cloud said. With that, I walked away from her. Suddenly I wasn't too sure of this whole adoption thing…

* * *

A few days went by and it was Saturday. Usually on Saturday's, I had the whole house to myself because it was the day my parents went out for a date night. I didn't mind it really, but I never really got to spend any time with my family, so it was really strange seeing everyone home this morning. I figured they did chores, cause even though it wasn't required of me, that is what I would do.

When I walked downstairs, it was ten in the morning. Usually by now my mom and dad would've gone out shopping for food. I smelled breakfast, and my mouth watered and my taste buds were gasping. I walked into the kitchen and Aerith was there, serving pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausages, milk and orange juice.

"Good morning Riku!" Kairi shouted, standing up and grabbing my hand. She pulled me into the seat next to her, and then set her bear of the table.

"Morning Kairi." I smiled, patting her head gently.

"So Riku, are you ready for Monday morning?" Aerith asked.

"I guess. I'm not ready for people to see the cast… I don't do so well when it comes to people who question me." I said, filling my plate with anything that looked good.

"We'll get you a jacket today." Cloud said.

"Now Cloud…"

"C'mon Aerith, he's been through a lot. He probably doesn't want to think about it, let alone talk about it." Cloud argued.

"Speaking of which…" I said, standing up and grabbing some bottles of pills I needed. In total I had to take seven pills that morning. I swallowed them all down with a gulp of orange juice.

"So Riku, what did you do on Saturday's with your family?" Kairi asked.

"Actually, my parents would go out shopping Saturday morning, bring the groceries back home and then go out and have a date. The shopping trips lasted about four hours, beginning at ten when she left and the latest they've ever come back was four in the afternoon." I said.

"Wow, did they get a lot?" Kairi asked.

"Not all the time. My mom just had a really difficult time picking items and such. On those days, I would clean the house."

"Aww you're no fun! We have to change that, right Tidus?"

"Right!"

"Wait a minute, kids. That's actually not a bad idea. I mean I always clean around here and never get a whole lot of help. I'd love it if we started doing daily chores."

I slumped in my seat when I felt two burning eyes on me. Not pairs, just two eyes. They were from Tidus. Cloud looked like he could give a shit less, Kairi just wanted to be like me.

Now I really wasn't sure about this.

* * *

Come Monday morning I was worn out. Believe it or not, Aerith gave me all of the chores that were slightly hard to do. Cloud though got me a really awesome looking oversized black jacket. I was able to hide my whole arm with it and it wasn't noticeable that I had a cast.

Aerith came in my room at seven in the morning with a bell. In my mind, what was shouting was 'don't punch her, just don't punch her.'

"Wakey wakey!" Aerith called loudly.

"Shut up…" I mumbled, sitting up and rubbing my tired eyes with my good hand. I shooed her away so that I could get dressed. I pulled out a black band shirt, black skinny jeans, a red studded belt, my worn out black converse, and the jacket Cloud got me. It was zip up and I absolutely loved it.

I combed my hair a little and just let it fall down my shoulder and my bangs into my face. After that, I went downstairs to pick up some toast.

"Morning Riku- oh… honey why are you wearing all of that black?" Aerith asked.

"Because I want to?" I questioned, growing irritated. She sighed, looking at me with steering eyes.

"If you're trying to get me to change, it's not going to work. I will wear what I want." I stated, going back to my breakfast. She shut her mouth and went into the other room. I just smirked.

"So do I get picked up by a bus?" I called out.

"Ten minutes." Cloud said as he walked in.

"Thanks, Cloud." I said.

"No problem. And hey, I'm sorry about Aerith. She's really only used to what our kids do on average." He said. I nodded, then stood up and grabbed a juice box from the fridge.

"I'll see you later." I said, grabbing the backpack Cloud got me. It was black and went over my shoulder with blue, red, purple, yellow, and green colours splattered all over the back. When I walked outside, I hid off my arm to where none of my hand could be seen. The bus came up a few moments later and I put myself on the bus in a sluggish manner. Faces I couldn't recognize and a bunch of those faces stared at me as if I were some sort of god blessed with immense beauty. Weird, cause I've never thought I had ever been good looking.

They were all instantly afraid of me. I wore all black, and silver hair wasn't normal around this part of the city. It wasn't normal at my old school either, but I also wasn't the only person with it. There are about 50 people on this bus and nobody has silver hair.

Feeling the stares almost felt… really awkward. I sat in the back and stared out the window. Yeah, surprisingly enough there was a seat empty in the very back.

We made a stop and there were a couple of kids coming on from the bus stop. Jocks and their girlfriends on them it looked like. At the end though, when all of the kids got on, another got on just before the bus driver shut the door. He bolted for the back but then he froze when he saw me staring at him with a straight face.

His body quaked, shook, and his eyes stared blankly.

"T-This is my seat…" he said in fear.

"Do you want me to move?" I asked.

"Hey kid! Sit down, I don't have all day!" the bus driver shouted through the radio. So the kid took a seat but made it to where our arms weren't even grazing against each other.

I continued to stare out the window, ignoring the kid next to me. He was probably some sort of basket case. However…

I couldn't keep my eyes off of him.

His legs were up against the seat on the school bus. He was wearing blue skinny jeans and black converse. They looked to be about three years old though; the soles were ripping apart. He looked insanely thin as well. He also had a black jacket tied around his small waist and he was wearing a long sleeved black shirt that was far too large for him.

What I saw that made him the complete image of a basket case was his neck and up. The skin that was visible. His hair was messy, spiked in every which way and sort of looked like he could barely get the chance to clean it properly. His bangs covered his eyes so I couldn't really tell what colour they were.

What got to me though was when I looked at his jaw. There was a brownish-yellow splotch on it. I knew what it was instantly and couldn't breathe for a moment. I looked away quickly when the kid averted his eyes towards me.

"What?" he asked.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"Nothing, just observing." I said.

"Well now that you've seen me will you just… go away forever…?" he asked.

"Why do you say that?" I asked.

"You don't want to get involved with me." He said.

"Why not?"

"You ask a lot of questions…" he mumbled, looking away.

"You don't seem so bad." I said. He scoffed.

"If only you knew…" he whispered, hugging his knees.

"I know, I don't know. I'm sorry." I said, looking out the window. After that, he didn't speak.

When we got to the school, he bolted off the bus and was the first one off.

I went off to try and follow him, but a bunch of people beat me first to getting off the bus. I had to wait a while before I could because people. Are. Slow.

When I finally got off, I lost sight of him. "Damn it…" So instead of going to find him, I went ahead and headed on inside to get my class list from the office.

* * *

**WHOA! Finally that's updated. Ugh, I'm reeeeeally really sorry for the wait, but I hope you enjoy this chapter!**


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